I was doing pretty well before the holiday. I've had quite a few food items I don't typically eat all in one week such as pie, peanut butter cups, candy canes, deli meat, chips, pop, cookies. They were delicious. LOL And I really don't eat any of these things regularly except the cookies when I bake. For the most part, I'm not a junk food type. During holidays, I tend to just graze whatever is available and we had quite a few extra snacks around.

On a more positive note, we also had raw cut veggies, clementines and other fruit available and I did eat far more of those than the junk food/snacks.

I'm still eating the junk food here. We're almost finished it. I'll be on a strict diet afterwards. I have to get bloodwork done on the 24th and I want it to look good for my new doctor, who I'm seeing on the 31st for my physical.

I have been trying to exercise more than normal, but it's hard when the weather is so crappy. Today we had more snow, making it difficult to walk outside. I guess I'll be doing another indoor exercise routine.

I think I'm going to officially begin this challenge on Thursday, because we have leftover pizza and mac and cheese to get through this week, and my birthday is on Tuesday and we are celebrating with my parents on Wednesday night with my Mom's spaghetti and meatballs, and there's no way I'm counting calories on my birthday. I'll post my number Thursday morning.

No carbs for awhile. Carbs = weight for me. I'll have some for lunch, but not much.

I'm getting out my health journal and dusting it off. I haven't been tracking meals and exercise for awhile now. Time to start it up again. Then I'll have something to show the doctor come the end of the month, should she be interested.

I weighed myself and haven't gained. I felt brave getting on that scale because I was telling myself, don't do it! My curiosity won. LOL I wasn't going to weigh myself for another week or so. I really think at some point in the next week, I might see a gain because I ate considerably more than usual lately.

I'm doing better with my coffee, but have not eliminated it. I'm sort of doing an alternating thing with hot cocoa and am really watching the spoon of sugar in my coffee and not making it heaping.

Well, I just got on the scale and I am .1 away from my no-no number, so perhaps I can't really wait until after my birthday to get going. I will eat well, today, and get on the elliptical at some point for at least 30 minutes.

I'm at 188.6 lbs. this morning. I was down to 187, but last night I shot up. I think it was two big meals in one day and little exercise. Not sure. My body has been doing this reset thing on me for some time. It seems as soon as it gets used to smaller portions or more exercise, my weight shoots up to adjust to the new 'normal'. Sigh. I'm thinking water retention is my main issue.

I like the phrase "new normal" because it perfectly encapsulates what I am afraid of. I was hovering at one number for a long time and although I couldn't seem to break below it, I was not terribly upset to be there. In the past month I've gained quite a bit and this seems to be the "new normal" and I am NOT okay with it. First weigh in for the school weight loss competition tomorrow morning.

I've decided I'm going to try to cut out sugar for a week and see what kind of impact it has on my numbers. Day one, done. All I can think about is chocolate. And sugar. And more sugar. Sugar, sugar...aw, honey, honey. Mmmm....honey. Sugar. Chocolate. Yum.

I'm still at 188.6 lbs. I'm not eating a lot of junk, but I also am not exercising as much as I should be. It's hard to motivate myself on these -40 C windchill days. I tried walking stairs a lot yesterday and the day before. I was out too. Yesterday I did a workout routine in the morning. Today I've been up and down stairs, but mostly I've been trying to get my new laptop up and running.

I haven't tried to cut sugar for years. Cut back, yes. Eliminate for any amount of time, not for about 5-6 years when I was vegan. I had a very weird almost desperate reaction my first two weeks of being vegan and cutting sugar. I would compare it to what I imagine drug people go through when going through withdrawal. I truly felt desperate, antsy, irritable, and kept wanting to just shovel sugar in and then poof it went away and I found that I couldn't even have it without feeling sick! My body could not even handle the sweetness of jar spaghetti sauce anymore. I never realized how sweet so many things were until I cut sugar out. I would like to get back to a plant based diet. I felt the best I ever have in my entire life.

So, I should clarify...I'm not not eating things that have any sugar in them. I don't even know how to start that. Like, corn...it's a sugary vegetable. But, I may still eat it...although I don't generally eat corn, but you know what I mean. Right?

I get you Amy. I tried a sugar free diet once. I'm supposed to be careful about sugar due to my weight. But it's really difficult for me to cut it out. Horrible cravings. If I could get past the cravings I'd be okay I think. I reduced my sugar quite a bit, but still have a long ways to go. I might have to join you in the effort to cut down on sugar.

It should be a no-brainer. I'm pre-diabetic and have always been super good about what I eat, but in the past few years, it's not been good, and I've gotten into some bad habits. So, this should be good for me all the way around. I need to also deal with carbs, because we all know they break down into sugars in the body, which is just as bad. Says the woman who ate baked mac and cheese for dinner.

I have the carbs (almost typed crabs and now I can't stop laughing) and sodium issue over here. I do what I can with buying low sodium and I rarely add salt to anything besides mashed potatoes and eggs. But still, too much salt and carbs.

-Got a free frying pan for saving stickers that came with my receipt. I really wanted the 10" pan, but was 15 stickers away. Still, the 8.5" pan will do nicely!-taught piano, which isn't saving money, but it is making money, and every little bit helps-sometimes you need to pay to make money...I took out an ad with my piano lesson business card in the Playbill for the musical at the high school...I can always use another student or two and this is good advertising

Well I'm one to talk. I made GF white cupcakes from a mix last night and we've been devouring them two at a time with homemade chocolate sauce made with corn syrup AND sugar! I think it's the cold weather that's beefing up my carb cravings. I am way over in carb consumption today. Tomorrow I'm going to try and reign it in and eat more fruit and veggies.I'm hoping to get to the real grocery store and buy some greens for smoothies and salads.

Today was almost zero exercise. Just a few times up and down stairs.

I had 12 servings of carbs!!! Between the cupcakes, pancakes for breakfast, rice for lunch and potatoes for supper. I think one of the biggest eye openers for me in the carb department was when I saw a nutritionist and she actually showed me carb serving of rice. I think it's 1/3 cup. I've switched to brown rice now, and try to keep that in mind. But sometimes I just want to eat up leftovers before they go bad, kwim? I think I'd be better off making small meals and freezing them for later consumption.